Tenant filed bankruptcy

[Joshua Woolls]

I just received notice that a tenant has filed bankruptcy. This tenant is current on all rents and has been a model tenant up to this point. I was in the home a few weeks ago and it looks fine. They have been in for about 5 months. This is a chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Should I have any specific concerns? As far as I can tell, they have the right to void their lease, I cannot evict them while bankruptcy proceedings are still going on, I cannot try to collect late rent, and they are responsible for any rents that are due after the bankruptcy is filed with the courts. I do need to wait until the bankruptcy has been completed before trying to collect and/or start the eviction process. Correct?

I cannot imagine that the tenant would want to go through an eviction immediately after a bankruptcy though, as this would really put them in a bad spot for finding another place to live. Correct?

My biggest questions, is "can I reach out to the tenant to find out what his plans are, or would that be a breach of bankruptcy law?"

[Fred Heller]

There's an upside to this for you. With a significantly lessened or non-existent debt load, the tenant won't have any problems paying the rent.